Higher viral load of Epstein-Barr virus in gastric cancer compared with non-cancerous gastroduodenal tissues

INTRODUCTION: Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-associated gastric cancer is a distinct molecular subtype of gastrointestinal carcinomas as defined by the Cancer Genome Atlas. METHODS: In the present study 237 samples from Iranian patients diagnosed with gastric cancer and gastroduodenal disease were retrospectively examined for EBV infection by quantitative Real-Time PCR. RESULTS: Of the 237 samples tested, EBV DNA was detected in 37 samples (15.6%), in 13 of the 81 gastric cancer cases (16%), and 24 of the 156 non-cancerous samples (15.4%). The EBV infection rate was found higher in patients with gastric ulcer (35%) and duodenal ulcer (21.9%) compared to patients with gastric cancer (16%) and gastritis (19.6%). The EBV-encoded small RNA (EBER) copy number in the gastric cancer group (mean = 2.14×10(−1) with range of 2.14×10(−2) to 4.10×10(−1) copies/ cell) was higher than gastroduodenal diseases group (mean = 1.39×10(−2) with range 1.11×10(−3) to 2.35×10(−2) copies/ cell), and this difference was statistically significant (P >0.001) CONCLUSION: The higher number of copies of EBV-EBER in the gastric cancer group compared to the non-cancer group confirmed the possible role of EBV in inducing cancer.